


Lost And Found

by aqpuppy



Series: WTHD Back to School Challenge [3]
Category: RuPaul's Drag Race (US) RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Fluff, Graduate School, Inspired by Music
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:35:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27716885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aqpuppy/pseuds/aqpuppy
Summary: There were plenty of other places in Manhattan where she could be, but standing in the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art was not one of them. There were too many people and it was getting quite cramped. Pearl glanced down at her phone and silently prayed to the powers that be that she was in the right place. The longer the blonde wasted her time standing in this spot, the more eager she was to leave.
Relationships: Pearl Liaison/Max Malanaphy
Series: WTHD Back to School Challenge [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946530
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Lost And Found

**Author's Note:**

> It's almost nostalgic looking at my first posted Drag Race fic. 
> 
> So, here we go. I went backwards with this and that was always nice. I started listening to Ordinary Days, so that's where I got inspiration for the plot of this little fic. 
> 
> Will I return to this universe? Who knows? Chances are, I probably will.
> 
> This was for day 1's prompt: notebook.

Pearl Liaison did not want to be here.

There were plenty of other places in Manhattan where she could be, but standing in the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art was not one of them. There were too many people and it was getting quite cramped. Pearl glanced down at her phone and silently prayed to the powers that be that she was in the right place. The longer the blonde wasted her time standing in this spot, the more eager she was to leave.

For the first 18 years of her life, Pearl lived in Florida. Yes, Disney World was an hour away, but she eventually grew tired of the heat and humidity, so she left. She spent her years in undergrad in Chicago and a perpetual state of distaste. It turned out her initial plan of double majoring in music production and fashion design was not the smartest idea, and she didn’t want to be in the far too windy city more than she needed to. She had to drop one or nix them both.

After eight semesters, she finally got that music degree. However, there was always a catch to getting a degree you love: the lack of money. For two years out of school, she worked two part time jobs and neither of them were enough to cover rent. Despite the friends she had made and the reputation she had procured, she was getting pretty tired of the wind amid everything else.

Pearl then did the least logical option: start grad school in New York City.

It was decent enough. Living in Manhattan wasn’t terrible; she moved in with an old friend from high school and they shared rent. She had a good idea for her dissertation and she spent quality time with John Coltrane and library books, studying a potential pipeline between his music and how it has influenced modern pop culture. All of her notes, reference, feedback, and potential sentence starters were nudged away in a practical notebook, as her professor was a traditional sort of fellow. Things were going quite swell until she went home one day and realized that it wasn’t in her bag.

She was stuck in the art museum for that exact reason. She didn’t leave it there, but the platinum blonde received an email from a stranger who claimed to have found it. Instead of somewhere convenient like a library or a Starbucks, they requested they meet on the fifth floor of the museum in front of _The Starry Night_. If she had to stare at Van Gogh any longer, she might have just pulled her ponytail out of her head.

“You must be Pearl?”

She turned around to find another girl who was about a head taller than her. She had a mole on the right side of her face and icy blue eyes. There were two more things that Pearl had noticed about the younger looking woman. Her voice had a soothing affectation, like she had stepped off the set of an old movie or she came from overseas. It showed in her visage too. She was quite pale and her hair fit well with the silent era, if Pearl could put her thoughts kindly. “So, I guess you have my book? Miss…”

“Max,” The grey-haired lady nodded her head and shuffled some of the loose papers back into the book, “Max Malanaphy. You know I had been greatly anticipating returning this. I wanted to return it to you as soon as possible.”

“Well, my question is why didn’t you say your name, or phone number, or any distinguishing marks in that email? That would have made things a lot easier?” Pearl asked with a twinge of annoyance.

“I am terribly sorry about that. I was just too caught up writing that it just slipped my mind!” Max awkwardly chuckled. “I’ve also been fascinated by your writing style and-”

“You read my notes?””

“Yes. As I was saying I enjoyed your writing style, and it’s a fascinating topic. I’ve never listened to much Coltrane, but now I want to. I bet your professor is going to love this!“

Pearl was about to say something about an invasion of privacy, but stopped herself. Max’s heart was in the right place, albeit her methodology was unconventional. There wasn’t any ill will behind her snooping. Despite her appearance, there was definitely something sprightly and charming about the other woman “God, I sure hope he does. I’ve got to have this on his desk in a few hours.”

“Then, I guess I should leave?”

“No-no-no-no-no…” Pearl grabbed Max’s hand as she was about to leave, “I have time to kill. Wanna maybe… grab some coffee?”

The taller woman nodded her head and smiled. Pearl couldn’t help but mirror her face and hope she was single.


End file.
